Duty free limits

February 16, 2017

While we are members of the EU, it continues to be the case that there are no limits to the alcohol and cigarettes you can bring back to the UK. However, if customs officials believe you are bringing back goods to sell them in the UK they will take an interest. According to HMRC you will be more likely to be questioned if you bring back more than:

Type of goods

Amount

Cigarettes

800

Cigars

200

Cigarillos

400

Tobacco

1kg

Beer

110 litres

Wine

90 litres

Spirits

10 litres

Fortified wine (e.g. sherry, port)

20 litres

If you are travelling back from outside the EU, the allowances are:

Alcohol allowance:

How much you can bring depends on the type of drink. You can bring in:

You can split this last allowance, e.g. you could bring 1 litre of fortified wine and half a litre of spirits (both half of your allowance).

You may have to pay Excise Duty on alcohol you declare.

Tobacco allowance

You can bring in one from the following:

200 cigarettes

100 cigarillos

50 cigars

250g tobacco

You can split this allowance – so you could bring in 100 cigarettes and 25 cigars (both half of your allowance).

You may have to pay Excise Duty on tobacco you declare.

Alcohol and tobacco allowances if you’re under 17

There are no duty-free allowances for tobacco or alcohol if you’re under 17. You can bring alcohol and tobacco to the UK for your own use but you’ll have to pay duty or tax on them when you get to customs.

Allowance for other goods

You can bring in other goods worth up to £390 (or up to £270 if you arrive by private plane or boat).

If a single item’s worth more than your allowance you pay any duty or tax on its full value, not just the value above the allowance.

The childcare voucher and directly contracted childcare schemes closed 4 October 2018. In time, these schemes will be replaced by the roll-out of the new Tax-Free Childcare: this offers parents £2,000 per year per child ...